Collie Adventure Race

Collie is a first for me with Road and MTB. With 2 bike legs I was confident of a good result.I had a few friends there which was nice. Dave, Jase and Bill Ironmen and Nige' Lorraine, Blair and Declan in their SPR team. Training has been downgraded lately so although each leg was within my capabilities I wasn't sure how I would be by the end. It turned out not that flash but got through it.

Race; 27km Road, 10km Paddle, 1km Swim, 22km MTB, 10km Run. There was an optional Horse leg as well, but I was missing a vital hay eating piece of equipment for that leg so I went with the 5stage race.

Early start with 2.5hr drive from Perth. Parked to drop off ski and immediately bumped into most of my friends. Everyone was in a great mood by the looks. Rego confirmed this was a casual event. Snuck a peak at the competitor list and I was surprised at how few 5stg Ironman competitors there were. Later I learnt there were 12.

Next as I had no support crew (but very helpul friends) I had to take the car out to the Lunch stop/transition and ride back to town for the start and I was running short on time. Rode hard  to get to the start on-time (a couple of big hills I didn't count on) and made it with 10min or so to spare.

Race start was 3 at a time with Bill and Dave ahead of Jase' and myself. I started out slow, Jase' went out ahead. I lost my drink bottle within the 1st km on a railway crossing. Water conservation became a priority with 1.5ltrs of fluid in my Camelbak to last for the Road and Paddle about 2hrs.At this point very happy with the decision to carry my Camelbak form the start. This was originally a strategy to avoid issues and time at transition onto the paddle. Now was a blessing.

The Road was relatively uneventful, I was taking it easy with the thought "Long day ahead" in the front of my mind. Hills weren't as bad as expected. Nice to see a guy off his bike helping a young guy having difficulty getting up a hill. coming to the turnaround the guy we were joking about with the "teardrop" helmet turned out to be well qualified to wear it. He was flying! First familiar face was Dave, going very well. Jason a little further back, then Bill not far in front of me. On the way back got a wave from Lorraine. The other SPR team rider went past me at a rate of knots. A mini battle with a team rider, he had me on the hills and I had him on the flat. All the time slowly getting a little closer to Bill. Caught Bill just as we got back to town. I think "You bastard!" was the affectionate greeting I got. With the paddle and swim next I knew it would be short lived. Happy with 52:34min 6th position.

Transition and someone offered to take my bike, so I handed it off (later I wondered about the wisdom of this). Great transition onto the ski, and immediately met with weed and submerged obstacles. Jason was just ahead with a guy I would later meet, Neil. As I paddled in what I would describe as soup as the weed seemed to pull the ski back, I was waiting for Bill to come by. Just before the Weir Bill caught me and Jason, Neil, myself and Bill negotiated the portage together. Bill said he got tipped out by his rudder when crossing the pipes in the water at the start. The Weir was the easiest bit of the portage, the wade through the reeds following that was a highlight. Dragging your ski through a channel in the reeds there were all sorts of waist deep holes to fall into, as you couldn't see where they were. A little more weed then when we hit the clear water, I was no match for Jase' Neil and Bill. The paddle then dragged on. The longer it took to come across someone coming back, the  more I was thinking this must be more than 10km (it wasn't). 01:12:05hrs and surprised to get 8th on the paddle.

Before the race I was pretty keen on the idea of a lunch break. As it dragged on though, I became more and more against the idea. I was feeling crap and just wanting to get on with it.

Next was a mass start swim. Less chaos than expected and halfway through found myself looking into Bill's eyes every time I took a breath. He swam past me, but I came out of the water not far behind. 15:11min 10th wasn't a great result, but I was feeling really poor after the lunchbreak.

Another great transition once I got past the spectators standing in the transition area. I was held up a bit for the first section which was single track. Not a bad thing, as it allowed me to work into it and Nigel to catch me. Nigel started off, and initially I couldn't match his pace. A couple of km later though............I hit my straps! Nige' tucked in behind and we were flying. I spotted what I thought was Bill up ahead and cranked on. Turned out to be Jason, we passed him and were taking no prisoners particularly on the downhill sections. I bit of loose stuff added a bit of entertainment. By now I had decided Bill must have been behind me and I must have passed him in transition. A few reasonable hills in the last few km I meant I might have burnt my candles for the run. Couldn't hold onto Nigel, but I had a ball on the bike. 01:02:45 and VERY pleased with 2nd on the MTB.

Another cracking transition I asked Nige' if he was ready to go. He had an army helping him in transition, and he said "no you go". I was off and set an easy pace to see how I would feel, knowing I was going to struggle. Dave came past on his return and commented that I must have had a great MTB. Jase' ran by and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold him. Passed Nigel on my return, and I was confident I could hold him out. Got past the return point without seeing Bill, so I was feeling confident I could hold him out as well. After 3km I knew I was going to have a bad run. I was just trying to keep my pace below 5min30 km. and managing that ok. Neil ran past and commented "Man you can ride a bike". Passed a team runner about 8km in. Later learnt the poor guy got lost and did a couple of km extra. The last 1.5km were torture. I tried to pick up the pace but my body wouldn't be in it. Lack of run training was evident. Running past the bike-paddle transition no sign of my bike or gear......Mmm this will be interesting! My guts were locking up and I thougth I better take it easy to make sure I can run around the Trotting Track finish. The sledging for walking would be endless! The signage was lacking in the final 1km, thought Leigh might have shown them how to do it. Into the Trotting Track, and missed the turn onto the track. NOT HAPPY! The run around the track was torture! Luckily I had no-one around me so I had no need to sprint (or plod a little faster). 58:14 and 7th not great but I made it! Met by Lorraine with beer, and congrats from the boys.

Overall 04:20:49 7th from 12 in category 5stg Ironman and 13th from 55 overall including teams or as I like to call them....cheats! Dave had a great day 2nd Ironman 3rd overall, Jase 5th and 11th, Bill 8th and 15th, SPR 15th team and 31st overall. Nigel got "Chicked" on the final turn of the run, turns out by the only person to complete the 6stage event, and only a couple of minutes outside her own record. So I would worry too much about that. Met a young guy Rich who bought his ski last week and this was his first adventure race. Well done you maniac! Managed to find my Road Bike and gear which had been collected for me so I was pleased to be heading home with all the gear I arrived with. Great day, Look forward to Augusta

Pete